Prevots Ascent Surprises Even Himself
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Few players anywhere, and perhaps none in the state of Texas, have had a bigger last few weeks than Alief (Texas) Taylor defensive end Torrodney Prevot. In that time the skilled pass rusher has picked up offers from LSU, Oklahoma, Arizona State, Baylor, and Texas A&M among many others.
The 6-foot-4, 220-pound prospect says that all of the attention has come out of left field.
"It's been amazing, it's overwhelming, everything is crazy," Prevot said. "I think it was just my film getting out, people really noticing me and knowing what I've done my junior year."
Interestingly the talented edge defender says that in spite of all of the attention he didn't feel his season for Taylor went nearly as well as it could have.
"I gave myself around a B- because I really felt like I could do more, we could have gone farther in the playoffs and I could have done more that would have helped everybody," he said.
"I really think I could be better at pass-rushing moves for one and I need to get bigger and stuff like that. Also I think that I need to become more of a team leader to help the team out."
In spite of his own tough grades a lot of names both familiar, and somewhat new, to Texas recruiting grounds are finding the previously unknown talent from West Houston in an attempt to bring his sack mastery to their campus.
He says all of the attention and gushing from elite college coaches has left him at a bit of a loss for words.
"Really just all the coaches are saying that I'm a big defensive end and mostly that just coming into my speed and that my first step is explosive and that I'm kind of the full package," he said with sincere humility.
"At first it was like when LSU came to me and they were saying they were going to offer me. And after that, schools started seeing my film and they were saying things like 'oh man this kid is a beast' and I didn't know what to say."
The Tigers were his first offer and many immediately thought Les Miles and company could be picking up a commitment in short order. However, in spite of Prevot admitting a good portion of his family is in Louisiana and is excited about his offer - it's not something he is going to let influence his choice.
In fact, the Bayou Bengals aren't even the school he grew up following.
"My family just started coming over after they heard about the offer, they were packing their stuff to come over there," he laughed. "Not really, I really grew up a Texas fan but I've started opening my eyes. I started opening my eyes and when places like Oklahoma get interested, you need to look around. Schools are just basically growing in my eyes and I'm ready to get out there and meet some different people."
Prevot had no previous contact with the Sooners prior to the time of his offer when he had a chance to catch up with Oklahoma defensive ends coach, and long-time Sooner assistant, Bobby Jack Wright. The ever-candid Wright made a lasting first impression upon Prevot.
"Really it was the first contact I ever had with them, it was like 'whoa, Oklahoma' it was just crazy I didn't know what to say when they told me they were offering," Prevot admitted.
"They called my coach and asked my coach to have me call and that's how it went and that's how it started out. I talked to coach Wright, he was an amazing guy to talk to. You know, he was this crazy guy and I've never really heard a coach talk like that before - he was just crazy (laughing)."
Considering there are now football combines and camps that cater to players who haven't yet stepped foot into a high school players are often known well before they've made a large impact for their high school teams.
For Prevot, that wasn't really a problem as growing up, he wasn't even sure football was his future - which might explain why college coaches showering him with attention has come as such a shock.
"In middle school I didn't even really want to play football, it was just this thing that I did, I did it to stay out of trouble and keep my grades right and I started noticing I was building more. And I started building on it my freshman year and then my sophomore year I was on varsity already and then I kept building and they had me on varsity. Then I started thinking about All-State or All-American teams."